Ohio State Defensive Line Will Be Urban Meyer’s Best Since 2006 BCS Championship

When Urban Meyer looks back on the best defensive lines that he’s coached, one in particular stands out to the Ohio State head coach.

Unfortunately for Buckeye fans, it’s the same one that stands out to them, but for all the wrong reasons.

While Chris Leak, Tim Tebow and Percy Harvin may have been the headliners, it was really Florida’s D-line that led Meyer and the Gators to the 2006 BCS National Championship.

Nobody knows that better than Ohio State, who saw Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Troy Smith sacked five times, held to minus-29 rushing yards and complete just 4-of-14 pass attempts in what was ultimately a 41-14 Gators victory over the Buckeyes in the national title game.

Jarvis Moss, Derrick Harvey and Ray McDonald. Those were the names that Ohio State fans heard early and often on that fateful January 2007 night in Glendale, Arizona—three players who would each go onto enjoy starting stints in the NFL.

Add in future NFLers Steven Harris, Joe Cohen and Jermaine Cunningham and it’s easy to see that Meyer’s 2006 defensive line was his best, as Ohio State knows from first-hand experience.

“I had an idea,” Meyer responded when asked if he had an inkling that his 2006 Gators defensive line was going to have its way with the Buckeyes. “But not to that extreme.”

Eight years later, that national title game remains a sore spot for some Ohio State fans, even after Meyer traded in his Florida blue and orange for scarlet and gray. But good news for the…